The U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued an announcement dated September 15, 2011 stating that all employment-based (EB) visa numbers for fiscal year 2011 (FY11) have been utilized. This means that no more immigrant visa numbers are available in the EB categories until October 1,...
On September 19, 2011, the Murthy Law Firm began receiving "courtesy copies" of case approval notices (Form I-797C) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), rather than the "original" approval notices (I-797A or I-797B). This is at variance with long standing procedures, and was...
The H1B cap for fiscal year 2012 (FY12) continues to have numbers available, as of this writing. The volume of filings for FY12 has been light. The latest U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) statistics on H1B usage is always available via MurthyDotCom, on the...
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has issued the October 2011 Visa Bulletin, the first in the federal government's 2012 fiscal year (FY12). The most remarkable development, effective in October, is the substantial forward movement in the employment- based, second preference (EB2) category for India...
On October 27, 2011, certain surviving spouses of U.S. citizens will run out of time to pursue permanent residence ("green card") as widows or widowers based upon a change to U.S. immigration law that occurred in October 2009. As explained here for the benefit of...
At the Murthy Law Firm, we continue to receive inquiries as to the current status of the delays in prevailing wage determinations (PWDs) at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). As of this writing, the DOL has made no new announcements; in particular, there has...
The U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India, has announced the resumption of interviews for H and L visa applicants. The Consulate reopened the appointment schedule for all H and L applicants on August 26, 2011. The first appointments are being scheduled for September 6, 2011. Background: Temporary...
In Part I (26.Aug.2011) of this NewsBrief, MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers were informed of August 2, 2011 policy announcements from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), intended to facilitate immigration benefits for foreign national entrepreneurs. That article discussed the potential use of the H1B...
A foreign national is subject to specific, strict requirements as a condition of obtaining F-1 status as a full-time student. Failure to follow legal requirements can lead to status violations, which can have potentially devastating effects for many international students. Foreign national students must stay...
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Janet Napolitano, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas recently announced policies intended to allow the utilization of current immigration categories by foreign national entrepreneurs in a more expansive manner. These announcements were...
